New joint stamp issue between Vatican and Romania

This year's series of Vatican Christmas stamps is a joint issue with Romania and consists of two stamps and two booklets.

The images selected for the stamps reproduce two paintings.

The first is "The Birth of Our Lord", a work by 19th century Romanian painter, Gheorghe Tattarescu. The artist is considered one of the pioneers of Romanian neoclassicism. He studied for a number of years in the mid-1800s at the Accademica di San Luca in Rome and received a number of awards. Most of his works are dedicated to religious themes. The nativity scene reproduced on the stamps is from a painting in the metropolitan Cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin in the city of lasi, Romania.

The second painting is "The Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds", which is a copy attributed to the school of Murillo. This painting of the Adoration is considered one of the best copies and became part of the Vatican Pinacoteca collection in 1861 thanks to Pius IX.